We certainly do not suggest that you use the services of any of the following companies to recover your child from Japan. That would be illegal. Don't do it. But one author claims that this is not always illegal. In any case, this issue is often considered, so needs to be covered, if only to say, "don't do anything illegal."

These agencies or people may also be useful for gathering information about the whereabouts of your child or the child's abducting parent. Note that we know nothing about these companies other than that they advertise on the internet.

Visitation is usually not possible, but changing the child's living situation is. There are ways of returning a child to the Western / non-Japanese parent which are often legal and more often lucky. Although our business model does not include child abduction as a service, a number of foreign corporate clients have come to us over the years asking us to advise their employees on what it would take for them to obtain enforceable visitation rights. As the [Washington Post] article correctly points out, there are none.

The topic frequently then turns to the possibility of abduction and removal of the child to the Western parent's custody. If they remain in Japan, this is a waste of time and effort. However, if they wish to repatriate to their home country with their child, this is possible, but depends on a lot of variable factors for success. We do not abduct anyone's child. That is illegal. If they want to do so and ask, we tell them how to do it.

The first thing a parent needs to understand is that their life in Japan is over once they abduct their child. Anything left behind will be irrecoverable and any attempt to return to Japan will be "problematic" at best. An understanding employer and good friends who can see that household goods are packed and shipped ... or sold ... are a real plus at this point.

If a child is registered as a dual citizen, it is often possible to arrange for the passport issuing authority in the Embassy of the foreign country in Tokyo to have staff standing by ready to issue new travel documents at any time, day or night. Cooperation is more easily achieved at the Embassies of the major Western countries. It then becomes a matter of making it to Narita, Kansai Kuukou, or Fukuoka Kokusai Kuukou ahead of the finalization of any complaint to the police.

Beyond this point there are numerous variables which are unique to each specific case. There are any number of legal ways for a non- Japanese parent to abduct their children. We have found through experience that, in cases where the custody issue is cloudy or not specifically defined by decree, the Japanese police will not stop a Western parent from leaving the country with the child as there is no issue of kidnapping. In the half-dozen cases we have advised and which were carried out, we have had only one parent taken into custody. She was released with her child and escorted to the next fight out when it was learned that the Japanese parent had issued a false kidnapping report to the police. He was subsequently arrested and fined.

This issue is complex and highly subjective. If list members have specific questions or discussion points, I can attempt to elaborate in a way that will not compromise anyone's privacy.

-- Charles Lipton, Tokyo Replies to: crlipton [AT ) @gol.com

The information on this website concerns a matter of public interest, and is provided for educational and informational purposes only in order to raise public awareness of issues concerning left-behind parents. Unless otherwise indicated, the writers and translators of this website are not lawyers nor professional translators, so be sure to confirm anything important with your own lawyer.

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